In need of funds for a renovation, the Abbey of Saint Sixtus of Westvleteren will release for the first time in the U.S. a limited amount of its Westvleteren 12 beer. Wilbur's Total Beverage Wine & Spirits, 2201 S. College Ave., has been selected among a handful of liquor stores to offer the rare beer that many hail the best in the world.

The monks brew the beer at their monastery in Belgium. The beer is normally sold at the abbey by appointment only. Wilbur's received 36 six-packs of the Westvleteren 12, which it will sell on a first-come, first-served basis at 9 a.m. Friday. One six-pack is $85.

Dennis Dinsmore, Wilbur's managing partner, credited the store's beer buyer Jeff Matson for his connections in the industry that enabled Wilbur's to snag the beer.

Dinsmore said he's taken calls from around the country from people trying to buy the beer. He anticipates it will go quickly Friday when doors open. Disnmore is not permitted to break up the six packs to sell bottles individually and is only allowed to make $3 profit on each six-pack.

Wilbur's is one of four Colorado stores that will have Westvleteren 12 for sale. The other stores are in Denver, Boulder and Colorado Springs.

In an interview with National Public Radio, Mark Bode, spokesman for the Westvleteren brewery, said the monks don't want to be too commercial and this will likely be the last time they do a release like this.

The Abbey of Saint Sixtus of Westvleteren in Flanders, Belgium, consists of about 30 Trappist monks who strive to lead a quiet and modest life searching for God, according to its website.